Killer in Manorville body dumping gets 23 years to life

A 19-year-old Amityville man who pleaded guilty to killing another Amityville man, dumping the body in Manorville and setting it on fire was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison at a court appearance last week.

Orlen Soliz-Galvez was sentenced by State Supreme Court Justice John Collins last Thursday on charges of second-degree murder, according to a spokesperson for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office.

Bryan Rosales-Mejia, 22, of Amityville — a second defendant in the case who also pleaded guilty in July— is expected to be sentenced next month, the spokesperson said.

On Oct. 14, 2015, the two men lured Mr. Guzman to a cottage before they “brutally” assaulted the victim with a knife and screwdriver until he died, prosecutors said. Prosecutors also said the defendants used their cell phones to take pictures and videos of the victim “as he lay on the floor dying,” which investigators were later recover from the phones.

Mr. Soliz-Galvez and Mr. Rosales-Mejia dumped his body in the Otis Pike Preserve in Manorville the day after the murder, covered it with brush and set it on fire, authorities said. Mr. Roseales Mejia was arrested two days after the body was found and Mr. Soliz-Galvez was linked to the crime and arrested later that week.

In separate court appearances on July 26, both men pleaded guilty to second-degree murder charges. In an interview in July, Daniel Russo of Westhampton, Mr. Soliz-Galvez’s court-appointed defense counsel, said that while his client likely didn’t physically kill the victim, he was there and assisted in the murder.

“He’s as culpable as the killer, given the facts of the case,” Mr. Russo said at the time.